Just about every weekend, from early March through early December, motorists traveling through Worcester frequently find themselves driving through a gantlet of people standing at intersections soliciting donations.

These aren’t panhandlers, either.

No, these people represent various groups and organizations, such as youth sports leagues, charities, public school extracurricular programs and athletic teams, as well as some church groups.

They can often be seen standing out at some of the more heavily traveled intersections throughout the city soliciting donations from motorists stopped at the traffic signals.

The longstanding practice, known as “tag days,” has been a popular method for charitable organizations and youth sports groups to raise money. This year, 41 groups have been permitted by the Police Department to conduct a tag day on city streets, while 40 groups were permitted last year.

But the future of tag days in Worcester may be in jeopardy; it could very well fall victim to the city’s efforts to regulate panhandling.

The City Council has before it a pair of ordinances intended to address aggressive panhandling and making it unlawful for people to solicit money from motorists while standing in a public way, walking in and out of traffic on a street or standing on a traffic island.

In addition to targeting panhandlers, the ordinances would also eliminate tag days.

City Manager Michael V. O’Brien recommended the ordinances because he believes that panhandling has gotten worse even after the city initiated outreach efforts this past summer to direct panhandlers to the appropriate resources, such as medical care, shelter, food, mental health services, substance abuse resources and workforce development.

Mayor Joseph M. Petty said it all comes down to public safety. He said allowing people to collect money out on city streets, whether they be panhandlers or tag day participants, is simply downright dangerous.

“The panhandlers are one thing, but we also have young kids walking in and out of traffic soliciting money on tag days and that is an accident waiting to happen,” Mr. Petty said. “The time has come to put a stop to people soliciting money in the streets. Somebody is going to get hurt, and I don’t want to see that day come.”

That has drawn concerns, however, from those groups that rely on tag days for fundraising, especially youth sports leagues.

Linda McGill, District 4 administrator for Little League baseball, said the money raised by leagues within the city is used to purchase uniforms, equipment and baseballs, as well as to cover costs associated with the maintenance of their fields and to pay for umpires.

Even with the money raised from tag days, she said children still have to pay a fee to play Little League baseball.

Ms. McGill said some of the smaller leagues in the city fear that if they are unable to continue raising money from tag days, they may have to cease.

“Little League is one of the only sports organizations that allows children to play as young as 5 years old, and some of the smaller leagues are saying that without being able to use tag days their funds are going to be limited and they’re possibly going to have to fold,” she said.

While some city councilors want to see the city take an aggressive stand on panhandlers, they are far less enthused about seeing the city put an end to tag days, because groups like youth sports leagues rely so heavily on that fundraising tool.

As a result, some have inquired about whether the city could regulate aggressive panhandling while allowing tag days to continue.

But that may not be legally possible, according to a written opinion provided by City Solicitor David M. Moore to the City Council for its meeting Tuesday night.

“The short answer to this question is that the state Supreme Court has decided that panhandling constitutes a form of free speech which is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” Mr. Moore wrote. “Tag day solicitations are another form of speech which would enjoy First Amendment protection.

“A city ordinance or regulation of solicitation on public streets and sidewalks, traditional public forums, would survive under the First Amendment only if it is narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest,” he added. “Allowing tag day solicitation while banning other solicitation would create a distinction based on the content of the speech or nature of the speaker. This distinction would not survive scrutiny under the Constitution.”

So, it looks like if the city is going to regulate panhandlers, it has no choice but to shut down tag days as well.

Mr. Petty said he believes other ways can be found for charitable organizations and youth sports groups to raise money as an alternative to tag days. But Ms. McGill said that is getting harder to do.

She said one of the bigger fundraising alternatives she was involved in before was candy sales, in which people go door-to-door and sell their candy. But she said such a fundraising method is becoming less popular and effective.

“Many parents can no longer afford to pay for the candy upfront and then sell it to get their money back, because they really don’t want their children going door-to-door trying to sell candy,” she said. “Our leagues are also in competition with the schools that are able to do fundraising throughout the year. We only have a short period, pretty much the six to eight weeks while we are playing.”

While this issue is supposed to come back before the City Council Tuesday night, it may be a while before a final decision is made, especially given the opposition to doing away with tag days.

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